Spotifys

Apple, no friend of the European Commission at the best of times, has released a strongly-worded press release in which it explains why it isn't happy about a $2 billion fine levied by the EC. The fine comes after the Commission found that Apple's "abusive App Store rules" unfairly affected music streaming apps like Spotify and others, preventing them from pointing users toward cheaper prices outside of the App Store. It also impacted users by making them pay more, too, the EC suggests. And Apple really isn't happy about…

The European Union has fined Apple $2 billion for breaking EU competition laws with its approach to music streaming. The tech giant is said to have broken the EU's antitrust rules by favoring Apple Music over competitors like Spotify.The European Commission's statement says Apple prevented app developers from "fully informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services outside of the app," giving an unfair advantage to Apple's own music platform.According to the statement above, the Commission…

If you're a Spotify Premium subscriber you already enjoy 15 hours of free audiobook listening right now with the option to buy books if you want to listen to them at your leisure. Now, the audio streaming company has announced that those who won't have a Spotify Premium subscription can enjoy the same 15-hour listening time — so long as they sign up for the new Spotify Audiobooks Access Tier.The new tier, which is available as an option via the Spotify website, sells for $9.99 per month and gives users access to…

Because Song Psychic is pre-populated with questions it thought would be the most commonly asked, you can't ask an original question. However, you can type a question you'd like to ask and select from one of the many questions in the dropdown that best matches your question. Also: I tried replacing Twitter with Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon: What I foundThen Song Psychic will match a song to the question, with the title revealing the answer. You can listen to the song and share the results on social media. Of course,…

Because Song Psychic is pre-populated with questions it thought would be the most commonly asked, you can't ask an original question. However, you can type a question you'd like to ask and select from one of the many questions in the dropdown that best matches your question. Also: I tried replacing Twitter with Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon: What I foundThen Song Psychic will match a song to the question, with the title revealing the answer. You can listen to the song and share the results on social media. Of course,…

Because Song Psychic is pre-populated with questions it thought would be the most commonly asked, you can't ask an original question. However, you can type a question you'd like to ask and select from one of the many questions in the dropdown that best matches your question. Also: I tried replacing Twitter with Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon: What I foundThen Song Psychic will match a song to the question, with the title revealing the answer. You can listen to the song and share the results on social media. Of course,…

Spotify is one of the largest streaming services in the entire world, and it has several paid subscription tiers to suit different people with different needs. We are all familiar with the two subscription plans that are available. Well, Spotify just unveiled its new audiobook subscription called the AudioBook Access Tier, and it’s pretty pointless. As we know, Spotify has been doubling down on its selection of audiobooks. This was a move to compete with Amazon, as Audible pretty much owns the industry. Right now,…

On a brutal December day, 17% of Spotify employees found out they had been laid off in the company’s third round of job cuts last year. Not long after, music fans around the world realized that the cult-favorite website Every Noise at Once (EveryNoise), an encyclopedic goldmine for music discovery, had stopped working. These two events were not disconnected. Spotify data alchemist Glenn McDonald, who created EveryNoise, was one of the 1,500 employees who was let go that day, but his layoff had wider-reaching…

Ariana Grande marked becoming the first female artist to have 14 songs surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify by joining the platform for its sixth episode of the Billions Club series. Per its title, the series welcomes artists who have reached the 1 billion streams milestone on the music service. In the midst of recording at Jungle City Studios in New York City, per a press release, Grande received a total of 14 plaques for: “One Last Time,” “Bang Bang (with Jesse J & Nicki Minaj),” “Santa Tell Me,” “Dangerous…

Controversies and PR headaches weren’t enough to dissuade Spotify from re-upping its agreement with podcaster Joe Rogan, whose show over the past couple of years drove divisions among music fans and artists alike and even prompted some big names, like Neil Young, to pull their catalogs from the streaming service. Regardless, the show remained popular enough to earn the top spot as users’ most-listened-to podcast every year since coming to Spotify in 2020. Now, Spotify’s relationship with the podcaster continues, as…